Our final morning in Maliau. Our last time hearing frogs call in the middle of the night, waking up to the sound of gibbons and cicadas, and watching the hornbills congregate in the Strangling Fig tree to feast on the ripened fruit.

Pat soaks up the view while we have breakfast in the Rest House.

With bags packed and specimens safely stored in large holdalls, we loaded the vehicles after breakfast, ready for a 7-hour car journey to Kota Kinabalu.

The team, just before getting in the vehicles to leave. Left to right: myself, Tony, Kerry, Kishneth, Dan, Holger, Pat and Keiron.

Driving along the track from Maliau Basin Studies Centre back to the entrance of the reserve, it became clear why it’s important to a) travel in in a four-wheel drive vehicle and b) travel in convoy. This is because the track can become INCREDIBLY muddy and it’s not uncommon to get stuck. If there are other vehicles travelling with you, they can at least help to pull you out!

Travelling in convoy. Note the deep ruts in the road.

Fortunately, when we did get stuck, we managed to get out of the mud ourselves….with a fair bit of revving and a lot of wheel spinning!

Thick mud and trying to drive up a slope = a sticky situation.

We paused at a lookout point for a final view of Maliau Basin. A very special rainforest (the scientists all agreeing that it’s been their favourite place to work during this trip), untouched by logging and plantations, and a haven for some incredible plant and animal species.

A few of the smaller animals that we encountered during our stay in Maliau.

Looking out over the Maliau Basin Conservation Area.

Once out of the reserve and on more definite roads, we came across lots of logging vehicles and vans containing the harvested fruit of Oil Palms.

Logging vehicles are a common sight outside of the forest reserve.

Malaysia and Indonesia are the world leaders in palm oil production, supplying over 80% of the market. The oil extracted from the crushed fruit of Oil Palms (seen here in the back of a vehicle) is used in a variety of products including biofuels, shampoo, biscuits, chocolate, cosmetics, toothpaste etc.

We also passed villages, schools, mosques and churches, all lining the road and set against a backdrop of wooded hills.

Many of the houses we passed were raised above the ground, on stilts. This is to help protect them from flooding when it rains.

As we approached Kota Kinabalu and crossed over a mountain range, we found ourselves driving through low-lying cloud and fierce rain. Interestingly, when the rain stopped, you could immediately see the water evaporating off the hot tarmac. A sight rarely seen in the UK!

The rain was so heavy that at times that you could barely see the traffic in the road up ahead.

After a long and tiring journey, the majority of which was thankfully on tarmacked roads, we finally arrived at our destination. Some of the team were eager to enjoy the opportunity of a hot shower at the hotel (all of our showers having been cold in Maliau). Others were looking forward to wearing normal clothes (rather than leech socks and trekking attire). But at the forefront of everyone’s mind was food.

Keiron has been looking forward to eating fast food...but without the side order of rice!

Although the food at Maliau was very good, having rice at almost every meal had lost it’s appeal and we were all looking forward to going to a restaurant and having a cold drink and a choice of food!

For dinner we visited an Indian restaurant close to our hotel. Although I voluntarily chose rice to go with my meal we were spoilt with a selection of sauces and accompaniments, squid and chicken in hot masala sauces, and everything served up on a banana leaf! Delicious.

Walking around Kota Kinabalu, with the sun having already set, I caught my first glimpse of the sea (the city lies on the coast of Northern Sabah). Small islands can be seen in the distance and boats bob up and down in the water. Tomorrow, once we have paid a visit to Universiti Malaysia Sabah to check on our samples, we shall explore the city.